PACE (Programs for Cross Cultural Awareness)

EDUC 566 - Cross Cultural Awareness

Offered in the spring semester

DETAILS FOR Spring '18 Course

EDUC 566: Cross-Cultural Awareness is a graduate level course where students will learn about the salient dimensions of diversity by exploring the interrelated issues of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, and ability. Through a pre-course retreat, lectures, cross-cultural dialogue, readings, writing assignments, and peer-led in-class facilitations students will explore the courses many issues in depth, as well as develop skills in workshop design and facilitation that will empower them to become peer educators.

* All Penn undergraduate and graduate students and staff from all twelve schools are welcome.

Programs for Awareness in Cultural Education (PACE) and Teaching Performing Art for Cross-Cultural Education (TPACE) are partnerships between the Greenfield Intercultural Center and the Graduate School of Education. Their aims are to train students to increase cross-cultural awareness at the University of Pennsylvania.

Democratic Classroom Environment:

We strive to create an environment where students are engaged and active participants in a democratic learning process. Within the PACE context, democratic education means that students are peer educators - creating knowledge with the instructors rather than acting as containers waiting to be filled by expert knowledge. It also means that a supportive environment for cross-cultural dialogue dismantles and exposes the hierarchy both within the structure of the classroom itself and between course participants.

Elements of democratic education:

Course is facilitated by two instructors to model cooperative learning facilitation.

Shared decision-making and responsibility among the students and instructors.

A learner-centered approach; everyone can learn from anyone.

Equality among instructors and students.

The community as an extension of the classroom.

Program Goals:

For students to address issues of cultural awareness, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, etc. through cross-cultural dialogue, introspection, research, writing and service learning.